Partizan NIS lost 5th game in a row in ABA League, and this time Cedevita was better than black and whites with a score of 82 – 92.

Interesting fact was that guest from Croatia scored 15 three points shots and they were shooting 31 times, so they had 48.4% for three pointers.

The best player from Cedevita was Roko Leni Ukić, who finished the game with 23 points and 6 assists, while Dženan Musa added 16, and Demetrius Nichols 12 (10 points in the first half).

In Partizan, Nigel Williams-Goss was the best with 25 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. And he was one of the two players who scored double-digits for black and whites. The other one was Patrick Miller with 15 points and 6 assists.

Partizan started tough in the first quarter and the team of Miroslav Nikolić was leading all the time but three minutes till the end Cedevita made three point shot for the result 17 – 17. Also, in the end of the first part guests took the lead and result was 23 – 24.

Cedevita was leading in the second quarter also, but Stevanović dunk for 30 – 30, and soon after he made another dunk for the first lead of Partizan in the second quarter (32 – 30). Both teams had mini series after, and two minutes till the end result was 40 – 40. First half finished in the same manner, the result was 44 – 44.

After the first 20 minutes, the best scorer for the team from Zagreb was Demetrius Nichols with 10 points, while two Partizan’s players had 9 points each one, Miller and Williams-Goss.

The third quarter passed with the similar game for both teams, but in the second part Cedevita managed to take the lead and that part of the game finished with 5 points lead (62 – 67).

Last part of the game was dictating by Cedevita, and the team from Zagreb was leading 71 – 77 five minutes before the end. It was only a matter of what result would be at the end and final score was 82 – 92 for guests.

Nigel Williams-Goss (Photo: Partizan NIS)

After the game, playmaker of Cedevita, Roko Leni Ukić, was satisfied due to victory and he mentioned that his team was expecting tough fight in “Aleksandar Nikolić” Sports Hall.

“It is always tough when you play against Partizan in Belgrade, no matter who is playing for them. We were expecting game like this, and I have to congratulate my teammates for this victory. We didn’t start well and in the first half we didn’t play as we agreed, but after we made some difficult shots and we managed to celebrated”, said Roko Ukuć.

His coach, Jure Zdovc, was also satisfied with victory but he wasn’t satisfied with how his players played against black and whites.

“We won, and that is most important, but my team didn’t play well at all. I am not satisfied how they played, but in the end we made some important shots and lots of them were difficult ones so that is why we won. I am satisfied with victory, both not with what we showed. Also, I want to congratulate Partizan for fair play and I want to wish them luck”, finished Zdovec.

Partizan’s coach Miroslav Nikolić wasn’t satisfied with the loss, but he mentioned that his team played with much better team, one of the best in regional league this season.

“I am not surprise we lost because Cedevita is one of the three best teams this season in ABA League, besides Red Star and Budućnost. But I have to mention I am not satisfied with how we handled and how we reacted when score was 71 – 71. We had opened shots and we missed them. Quality team like Cedevita used it, and you all so how they handled in the end. That is how a great team reacts in situations when the game is deciding”, said Nikolić who added that his team wanted to win.

“We all wanted to win, and my team showed energy but we didn’t react well in the end. We have to change that, but all guy are young and we had lot of problems with injuries, Marinković didn’t play, I couldn’t use Veličković that much, he is still injured but it will get better”, Nikolić added.

During the game, part of the crowd were singing to Partizan coach: “Muto go away”, and at the press conference Muta said that he felt bad because of it.

“I felt bad because those people singing that. I am also Partizan fan and I didn’t deserve it”, finished Miroslav Nikolić.